Bare-Bones Character Animation and Rigging Controls in Friction Graphics

[etakanaka]

First off, thank you for the incredible work you’ve done with Friction. The tool shows a lot of promise, and I’m excited to see how this project continues to develop.

I’ve previously used Synfig, which at one point promised robust vector-based character animation. However, it seems development on that front has halted, leaving a gap in open-source tools for simple and intuitive character animation.

I’d like to request bare-bones character animation and rigging controls, similar to Joysticks 'n Sliders or the basic rigging system in Duik. I’m not asking for all the advanced features that Duik offers, but rather a simple, user-friendly rigging setup that allows for:

• Joystick-style controls for animating body parts and facial expressions by interpolating between poses.
• Slider-based controls for smooth transitions between different states, such as limb movements or head turns.
• Basic rigging tools to easily link body parts together for simple character animations.

These basic functionalities would make Friction much more attractive for animators working on projects like explainer videos, without overwhelming users with complex rigging systems. The goal is to have intuitive, easy-to-use controls for setting up character animations quickly.

I believe implementing this bare-bones system would make Friction an incredibly powerful open-source alternative to tools like After Effects, particularly for those of us working with character animation.

Thanks again for your hard work, and I look forward to seeing how Friction evolves!

Best regards